March 5, 2025

Dear Members,

Join us in celebrating the proud history and heritage of the Irish during the 48th Annual Newport Irish Heritage Month. Of course, the highlight for many will be the 69th Annual Parade in Honor of St. Patrick on Saturday, March 15, here in Newport.

The Museum is pleased again to sponsor a full slate of March happenings this year, and early last week, an important related mailing went out to the membership, including three flyers. One provided an overview of all our March happenings, the second discussed our March 19 Lecture, the final of our 23rd Annual Series, and the third provided an important and timely update on the Luck of the Irish Raffle Fundraiser and shared news of our first membership dues increase in nearly a decade, effective April 1, at the start of our next Fiscal Year (click HERE to see the latter flyer).

We certainly have a lot of news to share with you for March, Irish Heritage Month, so please scroll down for a review of each of our happenings, including links to reserve. And don't miss the link to the entire "All Things Irish" calendar in the Newport area in March toward the bottom of this e-newsletter. It's wonderful to see so many local events of Irish interest during Irish-American Heritage Month, which was designated by Congress in March 1991, just a few years before the Museum was established, in 1996.

I hope to see many of you around town this month, and our out-of-area members "virtually" via Zoom at our March 19 lecture by Raymond J. McKenna, a Rhode Island native and an expert on 19th Irish immigration to Providence. Ray's much-anticipated talk, the final of our 23rd Annual Series, will also be offered in person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel, and we are planning for another large and enthusiastic audience.

Please scroll down for details and an important update on our "Luck of the Irish" raffle, the most important fundraiser of our 2024-25 Fiscal Year. THANK YOU to all who have made a gift in any amount thus far!

Finally, on behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I warmly welcome our newest members, who joined since the first of the year, and thank those existing members who joined the ranks of our "Life" members.

Sláinte,

Deanna

Deanna J. Conheeny

President, Board of Directors

djconheeny@gmail.com

(401) 829-0098- mobile

Mar. 2023 tour by Steve Marino. Photo by Charley Collins

Our popular tour of the 1828 Barney Street Cemetery, the final resting place of many of Newport's early Irish immigrants, returns in March. Learn the fascinating story of this site, central to the history of Newport's early Irish community.

The tours of approximately 30 minutes will be given, weather permitting, on Saturday, March 22 at 1:00 p.m. by local researcher and guide, Steve Marino. No fee, but reservations are requested.

The cemetery was restored by the Museum in 1998-99, and continues to be maintained by the organization, thanks to our dedicated volunteers and financial support of you, our members.



To reserve, please click the below button for the "Historic Cemetery Tours" page on our website. There, you will a link to reserve for the tour along with interesting historical information about the cemetery site, including links to videos.



  Questions/Assistance with Reservations?

Contact Ann Arnold at (401) 841-5493 or tpm1@earthlink.net

One of the charming trolleys operated by Viking Tours of Newport

We are delighted to host our annual Trolley Tour of “Irish Newport” on Sun. Mar. 16, departing from Ancient Order of Hibernian Hall, 2 Wellington Avenue, Newport at 1:00 pm sharp. Please arrive no later than 12:45 pm to check in.

The 2-hour tour, narrated by our immediate past board president, Mike Slein, include stops at various sites connected to the history of the Irish in Newport, including the Forty Steps on Cliff Walk and the Barney Street Cemetery. The tours include an introductory visit inside the Museum’s Interpretive Center.

The Trolley is generously donated by:

in memory of :

Karen Oakley

The tour is free, but gratuities for the

trolley driver are gratefully accepted.     



Reservations are required, and space is limited

(vehicle capacity is 35 riders).

Note: If you’ve taken the Trolley Tour in past years, especially more than once, we’d ask that you allow our new members

            and our friends in the community at-large to experience the tour, as space is limited. Thank you!

          Questions/Assistance with Trolley Reservations?

Please contact Larry Bartley at (401) 965-7276 or ljbjr@cox.net

The Museum’s Interpretive Center, which operates seasonally between late-May and the end of October, will be open nine days during March, in celebration of Newport Irish Heritage Month. Located at 648 Lower Thames Street, just south of Narragansett Avenue, the Center also welcomes private and group tours, by appointment.

The special March 2025 public hours are 12:00–5:00 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the second, third, and fourth weekends in March (this Friday, Mar. 7 is the first day).

The list of days, parking info., map and directions may be viewed at the middle of the Home page of our website:

https://newportirishhistory.org/

Hosted by our knowledgeable and engaging volunteer docents, visitors will learn about Irish immigration to the Newport area and of the contributions to the community by individuals of Irish descent from the Colonial era to the present through various exhibits, including photographs, artifacts and more. Check out our new exhibit on the Kinsale-Newport Sister City relationship, celebrating 25 years of "Twinning" in April 2025.

Admission to the Center is free for Museum members and by donation for non-members. For more information, please contact Interpretive Center Manager, Steve Marino, at (860) 995-7367 or at NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

Our new tour of the historic Saint Mary's Cemetery will be offered on Saturday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m.

The outdoor tour of approximately 45 minutes will be given by local researcher and guide, Steve Marino, weather permitting.

Explore the final resting place of well over 1,000 Newporters of the mid-1800s through the early 1900s, including countless immigrants from Ireland and first-generation Irish Americans.

This cemetery was established to serve R.I.'s first Catholic parish (est. 1828), which, in 1848-1852 constructed a new church in which to house its growing congregation, fueled by immigration from Ireland. That church, dedicated in 1852 to "The Holy Name of Mary, Our Lady of the Isle," stands today at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard West. The St. Mary's Cemetery was in operation soon after the church was completed.

Meet at the gate on Kingston Ave. near the intersection with Warner Street, shown in the above photo.

To reserve, please click the below button for the "Historic Cemetery Tours" page on our website. There, you will find links to reserve for the Mar. 29 tour, along with links and information pertaining to the Barney Street Cemetery tours, discussed above.



  Questions/Assistance with Reservations?

Contact Ann Arnold at (401) 841-5493 or tpm1@earthlink.net

LECTURE SERIES CLOSING EVENT - MAR. 19

IN PERSON & VIA ZOOM

Fifth and Final Program of the 2024-2025 Series

~ Our 23rd Annual ~

The Old Stone Bank:

A Window Into the Lives of our

19th Century Ancestors

 Guest Speaker:

Raymond J. McKenna

Wednesday, March 19, 6:00 p.m.

Wyndham Newport Hotel

240 Aquidneck Ave, Middletown, R.I.

and Live-Streamed via Zoom

Made possible by a generous gift from

The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Newport

This talk will focus on the Irish community in northern Rhode Island from 1844 to 1879. Over 22,000 names with Irish birthplaces have been cataloged, along with nearly 300 people whose surnames led back to farms or small patches of land. The rich Old Stone Bank records detail not only those who came to Rhode Island and stayed, but those who chose to return to life in Ireland. One can trace families on the circuitous routes from the Irish countryside to an English (or Scottish) urban address and on to the Ocean State. Relationships with those in other states are revealed.

Personal details, physical descriptions, workplaces and workmates can be discovered. The records offer insight into the lives of domestic servants, including the families for whom they worked and the types of positions they held. If your ancestor commenced work on the factory floor at age eleven, they were not alone, the records show. Then there are the Civil War accounts. And don’t forget, most of our early ancestors could neither read nor write. The entries make this clear.

It is surprising how many Irish immigrants to R.I. found work as farmers. Numerous men, as well as some women, went West in search of gold. Some returned and opened accounts with gold nuggets. Finally, for historians, the records reveal the shift in immigration from Ulster in the early years to the Midlands, the West, and the South as the century progressed.

RAYMOND J. MCKENNA is a sixth-generation Providence native who earned history degrees from the University of Rhode Island and the University of Connecticut. He taught European, Russian, and American history for eleven years before going into the wine trade. Over the past twenty years, he has renewed his interest in Irish and Rhode Island history, focusing on the Famine generation. He is the author of the soon-to-be-published work, Embracing Hope: The Famine Irish Experience in Providence, Rhode Island, and blogs at FederalHillIrish.com.

This is Ray's third presentation to our membership.

• Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
• Light hors d'oeuvres & cash bar available
• Winners of "Luck of the Irish" raffle to be pulled after lecture and Q&A conclude
• "Last chance" Raffle tickets will be sold 5:30- 6:00 pm

Click a link below to sign up.

In-person guests: $5 per person fee/donation

via cash or check to MNIH.

Zoom registrants: No fee

All members of record received this letter and a book of "Luck of the Irish" raffle tickets in the mail in mid-November.

This is our most importation fundraiser for the 2024-25 Fiscal Year, which ends on March. 31. Gifts to the fundraiser may be in the form of raffle ticket purchases or outright donations.

Nearly 200 of you have already purchased one or more raffle tickets and/or have made a tax-deductible gift to the fundraiser, and we are most grateful!

Don’t forget, the drawing for $6,000 in cash prizes is coming up quickly, on Wed., March 19, following the final talk of our 23rd Annual Lecture Series (need not be present to win). 

Don't miss YOUR chance to win $6,000 in prizes -- send in your completed raffle ticket(s) and payment today!

If you need additional raffle tickets ($25 each or a book of 5 for $100), please contact Kathy Papp at (401) 236-2624 or email her at KathleenPapp@cox.net.



Click the button below to see the names of all "Luck of the Irish" fundraiser supporters as of March 3.

We feel lucky, indeed, for your support, and look forward to updating this list in the coming days!

The fundraiser will run through March 31. If you’d like to make a gift by check, please mail to:

Museum of Newport Irish History

PO Box 1378

Newport, RI 02840

Please write “Luck of the Irish” in the check memo.

You can also donate online on the “Donations”on our website.

If you would like a phone call back to arranging a raffle ticket-purchase or a donation, email NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com and we'll get right back to you.

"DANCING AT THE FORTY STEPS" - MAR. 30

Please hope and/or pray for some "Luck of the Irish" that we enjoy favorable weather on Sun. March 30 for this much-loved, family-friendly community event. The outdoor gathering is held weather-permitting, and updates will be posted on our Facebook page and on this webpage: https://newportirishhistory.org/events-calendar/dancing-at-the-forty-steps/

Learn more about this commemorative event and view videos of recent past "Dancing at the Forty Steps" gatherings by visiting the above webpage.

Questions? Please contact event coordinator, Rick O'Neill at

(401) 374-5698 or riconeill@cox.net



48TH ANNUAL NEWPORT IRISH HERITAGE MONTH

Newport Irish Heritage Month, a month-long celebration of "all things Irish," was established by the former Newport Irish Heritage Association (NIHA) 48 years ago through the efforts of Rick Kelly, Jim Mahoney, Rick O'Neill, and the late Paul Crowley. The Museum of Newport Irish History was proud to pick up the reins and continue to compile the March calendar of events of Irish interest when, in 2017, NIHA announced it would disband.

While the highlight for many is the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade (Sat. Mar. 15), the Newport Irish Heritage Month calendar includes many more special events, submitted by local organizations and businesses, including Fort Adams Trust, The Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Museum of Newport Irish History, Jane Pickens Film + Event Center, Newport Library, and others.

As you plan your March activities, please check out this online calendar, hosted by the Museum within the "Events" page of our website. Here is a direct link: https://newportirishhistory.org/newport-irish-heritage-month/

Questions, or to submit an event for the calendar, please write to us at NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com with "Irish Heritage Month" in the subject line.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST: MEMBERSHIP DUES

As shared in this special insert in our March events mailing, membership dues will increase modestly in the coming Fiscal/Membership year, for the first time in nearly a decade. We'd

ask all members to review this note which explains the reasons for this increase.

Also, those of you who earlier received a letter in the mail along with the February 24 Lecture flyer, marked "3rd Renewal Reminder," have not yet paid dues for the current Membership Cycle, which runs Apr. 1, 2024-Mar. 31, 2025. Please renew TODAY to keep your membership in good standing. Your payment before March 31, 2025 will be at the current membership rates, which will remain live on the Membership page of our website through March 31. Help us have a strong end to the Fiscal Year by renewing your support today!

All others with Annual (vs. Life) memberships should may wait until April 1 to pay for the upcoming Fiscal/Membership Year, at which point the new fees will be live on our website Membership page.

Finally, if you've every considering an upgrade from an Annual to a LIFE membership (a larger, 1-time payment), there's no better time to do so than now! Life membership fees will also increase come April 1. If you renew today and upgrade to Life status, it will be at the current rates, through March 31, a savings of $100.

Note:

• All membership dues payments are tax-deductive.
• Gifts to the "Luck of the Irish" fundraiser are not applied to Membership dues-payable.

Finally: If you are not sure of your membership status, please contact Ann at tpm1@earthlink.net or (401) 841-5493, before making a payment, and she'll get right back to you.

Please do not send payments or other correspondence to our seasonal Thames Street Interpretive Center address.

Museum of Newport Irish History

Established 1996

a 501c3 non-profit organization

Mailing Address:

PO Box 1378, Newport, RI 02840

Interpretive Center:

648 Lower Thames Street, Newport RI 02840

Email: NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com

Click Here for Museum Board of Directors Contact Info. and list of deceased board members, fondly remembered.

The MISSION of the Museum of Newport Irish History is to tell the story of the Irish immigrants and their descendants in Newport County and the surrounding area from the colonial era to the present. It also seeks to preserve artifacts and mementos relating to their experiences and facilitate

research on Irish history and heritage.